Wisconsin Family of Diabetes Advocates: Boxes of Joy and Call for an American Girl Doll

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We always love unique approaches to diabetes advocacy.

This one comes from a northern Wisconsin family that didn't waste any time embracing advocacy right after their tween daughter Anja was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in October 2013. On top of all the learning and adjusting they had to do, the Busse Family managed to quickly create and launch two initiatives to make a difference for people with diabetes.

Anja is the force behind both of these efforts:

First, just a few months after her diagnosis, she started a campaign to get the American Girl doll makers to add diabetes gear to their doll accessories; thousands have already signed the Change.org petition to American Girl in support.

And something called the Boxes of Joy program, that are kind of like welcome baskets sent out to families with a newly diagnosed child to bring a little happiness to the experience.

Honestly, we couldn't think of a better family than the Busse's (starring Anja, of course!) to be featured in our ongoing Amazing Diabetes Advocates series. Without further ado, here's D-Mom Ingrid Busse to tell us more about her family's story and what they're up to these days.

DM) Ingrid, can you start by telling us about Anja's diagnosis?

IB) Our daughter Anja is now 13 years old, and was diagnosed less
than two years ago, on Oct. 8, 2013. Anja has three younger brothers and no one
in our immediate family had type 1, so at the time of her
diagnosis she was the only one in the family. But Anja's second cousin
just got diagnosed with it this year.

We went to a wedding in Colorado for a week in
2013. All week long Anja was complaining that her stomach hurt, going to
the bathroom a lot, drinking a lot (we didn't think anything of that since we
were in the mountains and everyone was drinking a lot), and was really
cranky. By the end of the week, she had lost over 20 pounds. When we
got back home we took her to the doctor, where they said she had sugar
in her urine and that we needed to go the hospital right
away. She was admitted into the hospital with a blood sugar level of
900.

What motivated
her/your family to start the American Doll accessory push?

It all began with the petition my daughter started. Since
American Girl already had similar products like hearing aids, service dogs,
wheelchairs, glasses, braces, and a food allergy set with an allergy
shot, Anja thought diabetic accessories would fit in great with
the AG brand. She didn't want a special doll… just the accessories
like a blood glucose meter, glucagon, and an insulin shot.

Here's Anja's video asking American Girl to create these new D-friendly accessories, and more than 4,000 people are supporting the idea!

Did you reach out and
hear anything from American Girl on this?

We have reached out, and even offered to purchase large
quantities (of the new accessories) to put in our boxes and donate to hospitals so that newly
diagnosed children had something to take home that they could use with
their favorite doll/stuffed animal. One newspaper
reporter did get in contact with American Girl and got a polite, 'we don't
do that' response.

And how did the Boxes of Joy idea get started?

We're just launching that now. We plan to send out our first 5 boxes in the next couple of weeks and expect the program to quickly grow.

The idea came after we started the American Girl campaign, as we started
getting lots of emails and messages from people who thought Anja's petition
was a great idea. They shared heartbreaking stories about how they
or a loved one really struggled with type 1 diabetes and how alone they
felt. When we read these messages and found out that diabetics
were 50% more likely to suffer from depression, we felt we had to
do something even if it was in a small way. That's when the idea for our
non-profit organization Boxes of Joy began.

Every child loves getting mail. We wanted
to send boxes to kids who were having a tough time and just
needed a little encouragement. We wanted to let them know that they
are not alone. We didn't have enough money for boxes so we started with
what we had. My daughter loves drawing. So we began by making
homemade cards and sending them to type 1 diabetic children all
over the world. We even sent one to Trinidad and Tobago and another to
the Channel Islands. Anyone who wanted a card, we would send one too.

We had lots of recent requests from organizations, including
sororities and support groups, all over the U.S. to make cards and even have
card-making events.

So you've been making all these cards yourselves?

My daughter has been overwhelmed
with requests, so we decided to ask people to help us to reach more kids and be able to offer not just one card, but many cards. For Diabetes Awareness Month in November, we started a grassroots
campaign for people to make cards for a diabetic in their own life, which we called
the Encourage a Diabetic Project.
We got lots of interest from diabetics and non-diabetics alike, so we decided
to expand it to an all-year project.

We are working with different organizations on having local card-making events, where people make cards for type 1 diabetic kids and send
them to us. We were fortunate to have the Type 1 Diabetes Network Inc. take us under their wing. We are now an umbrella
organization of them and are able to receive non-profit status.

Our goal is to make and send out as many cards and packages
to type 1 diabetic kids.

What will go into the boxes,
besides cards?

Every box comes with a stuffed animal, a medical alert
necklace/zipper pull (which we make ourselves), an "I am thankful
for" dry erase board so that the child can write down one thing
that they are thankful for everyday (which we make ourselves too), a coin
purse with a pick-me-up snack, a useful diabetic item (we want to
encourage kids to take better care of themselves), and a couple of fun items/toys.
Each box is different based on age and donations.

Is all of this more of a hobby, or are you looking to turn it into a business
venture?

Right now we are doing this as a hobby. We are
hoping to expand and in the next year possibly start selling some of
the items we put in the packages, as well as care packages for kids in
diabetes camp, college, etc. Proceeds from the sales will help us be
able to send more packages and cards to kids. Anja has decided to be
homeschooled this school year so we will be incorporating Boxes of Joy and
diabetes advocacy into her curriculum.

Are you still pushing
American Doll on the diabetes accessories?

We have not given up on our petition. We wanted to show American Girl that people really want to
buy this product. We think it is an item even boys can use with
their stuffed animals.

When and if
these products become available, we plan on including them in as many of
our boxes as we can so that T1D kids can have a doll or stuffed
animal that is going through the same thing as them, and feel that they are not
alone. We want American Girl to hear the same voices we hear so they
know there are many who want this product and are willing to buy it.

So how are you now approaching the American Girl campaign?

We are asking people to send in two pictures -- one with a
person holding a sign of how diabetes affects them or their loved one, friend,
or colleague; the other with the same person holding a sign indicating a
reason why American Girl should make diabetes accessories for their
dolls. We'll be compiling these into a video, and we're hoping to get enough pictures to finish the video by
the end of summer.

We have also been fortunate to have the group MJ2 (one of their
singers, Mollie Singer, is a type 1) give us permission to use their song
"It's Possible" on the video.

(Editor's note: We've featured D-peep Mollie
and her twin sister Jackie here at the 'Mine before, and we reached out
recently about their song "It's Possible"; Mollie tells us it does actually
have a diabetes empowerment theme at its core, and you can even
see her Medtronic insulin pump multiple times during the
music video!)

As if that weren't enough, is there anything else you are
all doing, as far as diabetes activities and advocacy?

Actually, my husband and I are joining Anja for the JDRF
Ride to Cure Diabetes in La Crosse, Wisconsin (running Aug. 13-16, 2015), where we will bike 100 miles through three
states in one day to raise money for type 1 diabetes research. Our goal
is to raise $8000.

Anja tries to advocate for diabetes programs and
diabetics in whatever way she can. This winter she went
to a town hall meeting with Congressman Sean Duffy. She
told him about what it is like to be living with type 1 diabetes and asked
him a question about diabetes legislation. She loves speaking
and has spoken at our local diabetes support group and Boys and Girls Club. There are so many people who do not know the difference
between type 1 and type 2, and she loves when she gets the
opportunity to educate people.

Do we hear that she’s
looking to start a blog in the Diabetes Online Community (DOC), too?

Yes, later this month she is going to be launching a blog for
diabetic kids where she will write about life with diabetes, feature cool
stories of diabetic kids/adults, do product and book reviews, etc.
Every month she will choose one person to be a "blue wing
hero," which is a diabetic who inspires others through their
life.

They will get an award and a pair of blue Schwings to put on their
shoes (they are wings you put on your shoelaces). She
already has a few interviews with authors lined up, two products to review, and we
have been working with Congressman Duffy's office to find a
time for Anja to interview him about diabetes issues and the Diabetes
Caucus, which he is a member of.

Wow, she's following in our footsteps there. You must be so
very proud of Anja…

Of course! ;)

How can people get
involved in these campaigns of yours?

If anyone is interested in making cards, receiving a
card/package, or donating they can contact us by mail at:

We are also really excited about the American Girl campaign,
but could use some more pictures. If anyone wants to email us pictures they can send those to diabeticamericangirl@gmail.com.

Great work, Busse family, and especially Anja. Know that you're definitely making a difference and "bringing some joy" to the Diabetes Community through everything you're doing!

Disclaimer: Content created by the Diabetes Mine team. For more
details click
here.

Disclaimer

This content is created for Diabetes Mine, a consumer health blog focused on the diabetes community.
The content is not medically reviewed and doesn't adhere to Healthline's editorial guidelines.
For more information about Healthline's partnership with Diabetes Mine, please click here.

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